Social Scene: Louisiana may be weird but we are delicious

I spent this week covering the Lt. Governor's Tourism Summit in New Orleans. Well, actually, it was way out in Jefferson Parish which is kind of a different world.

But one thing that rang out loud and clear was that Louisiana is doing quite well when it comes to attracting out-of-state and out-of-country visitors.

Lt. Governor Jay Dardenne was especially proud that international tourism was up 18 percent, more than any other state in the country.

The French connection has obviously helped that. In fact, some people think parts of Louisiana are the closest thing to Europe in the U.S.

Others think Louisiana is downright weird. I was really surprised to learn that National Geographic, in an upcoming October issue, named Louisiana "the weirdest country" in the world. So were hundreds of tourism professionals who attended the summit, but all of them took it pretty well.

Just ask Mama Redell, tour coordinator for Acadiana Bayous and Byways. She doesn't mind you calling her weird.

"We are not afraid to express ourselves," she told me. "We're unique."

Mama Redell said the weirdest thing about us is probably what we eat. She is right when she points to boudin and cracklins for example. Redell said she gets really strange looks when she tries to explain how those things are made.

"They don't understand what casing is," she laughed.

I guess they don't.

Redell explained it this way. We just take the pork shoulder, boil it in seasoning, pass it through a meat grinder and mix with rice and liver. Everything is cooked like a rice dressing mix in a sausage casing.

Yes, it might be "weird" but it sure sounds good to me.

She also went on to describe how to make cracklins.

For those who don't know, cracklin is deep fried pig skin and fat, with a bit of bacon meat attached.

In other words, they are like mini shards of a heart attack waiting to happen. But they sure are good.

I heard a nutritionist on the radio the other day explaining how Americans need more of that kind of fat in our diet.

Well Americans, come on over to the weirdest state in the U.S. and you will get plenty of that.